On his way out, Romney still doesn't get it

Presidential losers have a way of plummeting out of the spotlight rather quickly. For months before a general election they enjoy a special status as one of the most talked-about people in the world. Then - boom! - they are little more than public afterthoughts, for a time serving as fodder in election post-mortems and then fading back into their old lives.

Shed no tears for Mitt Romney, of course. A wealthy, successful man surrounded by a large and loving family, Romney will soon enough take on another challenge or find a lucrative landing spot somewhere or maybe just relax awhile.

But Romney isn't stepping aside without a few parting shots. And although most of the nation doesn't much care what Mitt Romney has to say anymore, his remarks are still worth noting, in large part because they say a lot about what his entire party has become.

History may well remember Romney's campaign most of all for his infamous "47 percent" comment when he effectively characterized nearly half the nation as shiftless parasites living off Americans willing to work. He later tried to explain that it all came out wrong, but who knows? Romney changed positions on so many issues so often that it was rarely clear where he stood on anything. That's no way to earn voters' trust - and he didn't.

But this week, in a conference call with some of his biggest donors, Romney reinforced his disdain for much of the populace by saying President Obama got himself re-elected by providing "gifts" to minorities and young people. Those "gifts" were such important provisions as health care and targeted student-loan forgiveness that can help improve the lives of the needy.

But in Romney's entitled world, these were nothing more than vaguely unwarranted "gifts" designed to buy votes. Apparently helping the less fortunate isn't a legitimate cause for government action.

This may all seem irrelevant now; he lost. But post-election analyses have crystallized around the notion that the Republican party is widely viewed as nothing more than a bastion of old white people who worship money. Certainly the lack of support from the African-American community, Latinos, women, youth, and other minority groups was stunning in its scope.

Romney embodies that stale GOP image, but he's far from alone in his elitism. The popular theory now is that sensible Republicans who care about the future of the party rather than just protecting their wealthiest benefactors would do well to distance themselves from Romney and his 47 percent theories and try to start moving the party toward more inclusiveness.

That doesn't have to mean compromising basic conservative principles. It does mean treating people with more respect that Romney and his ilk ever managed. Let's hope there are more enlightened Republicans out there who can make a difference.

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On his way out, Romney still doesn't get it

Presidential losers have a way of plummeting out of the spotlight rather quickly. For months before a general election they enjoy a special status as one of the most talked-about people in the world.

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